Police in Spain hold shows—demonstrations of force—in bullfighting arenas, often in front of an audience of schoolchildren. An unnerving series pieced together from videos of this spectacle.

Photographs and text by Julián Barón

Police in Spain hold shows—demonstrations of force—in bullfighting arenas, often in front of an audience of schoolchildren. An unnerving series pieced together from videos of this spectacle.

The state and the police are responsible for maintaining public order and the security of their citizens. Their continuity depends on the social consensus regarding their actions.

Recently, demonstrations and protests have become common places to exercise power and violence: social control mechanisms are set in motion to legitimize authoritarianism. The images in “Tauromaquia” (or “Tauromachy,” the practice of bullfighting) document various presentations and shows of force that the police carried out in bullfighting arenas to audiences of schoolchildren.

This series—comprised of computer screenshots—features images from several viewpoints: films made by the police, by local media, and by teachers. The incredible fervor of this national spectacle thus appears from multiple perspectives: from the children’s view as they enter into the arena to the perspective of a criminal’s execution.